Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 84
Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption
तत्र जीवति वर्षाणि त्रयोदश युधिष्ठिर । अधर्मसंक्षये युक्तस्ततो जायति मानव:,युधिष्ठिर! उस योनिमें वह तेरह वर्षोतक जीवन धारण करता है। तदनन्तर पापक्षयके पश्चात् वह पुनः मनुष्ययोनिमें उत्पन्न होता है
tatra jīvati varṣāṇi trayodaśa yudhiṣṭhira | adharmasaṃkṣaye yuktas tato jāyati mānavaḥ ||
“Hỡi Yudhiṣṭhira, trong cảnh giới ấy người ấy sống mười ba năm. Sau đó, khi nghiệp bất thiện đã cạn, người ấy lại được sinh ra trong thân phận con người.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the consequences of adharma are finite: one remains in a particular post-death condition for a fixed duration, and when the accumulated demerit is exhausted, one becomes eligible for rebirth as a human. It highlights karmic accountability along with the possibility of return and moral renewal.
Yudhiṣṭhira is being addressed in a discourse on the results of actions and post-mortem states. The speaker explains that a being lives for thirteen years in that specified condition, and after the depletion of sinful residue (adharma), the being is born again among humans.